Interviewing and Learning from Successful Authors

Tag: draft 2 digital

Today, Jeff, Jo, and Lindsay talked about their strategies for selling books in the non-Amazon bookstores, such as Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Smashwords, and Apple. They also discussed some of the tactics they’ve used over the years that they would consider “set it and forget it marketing.” These are things they did once and that have continued to result in book sales month in and month out.

They also addressed some listener questions about Amazon ebook giveaways and setting up author newsletters. (Here’s a link to the WordPress plug-in that Jeff uses: Newsletter.)

Lindsay went into some details about the successful launch of her recent science fiction series, including the promos she scheduled and how and why she went about creating a new mailing list just for the sci-fi.

After a week off, we’re back, and we had a good long chat tonight, covering all sorts of useful topics (we hope they’re useful, anyway!). We didn’t have a guest, so we interviewed each other on marketing/publishing subjects that we’re experienced with. Jeff answered our questions on Smashwords formatting, Jo talked about his experience with pre-orders and whether they’re a good idea for increasing book sales, and Lindsay talked about her experience in KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited (with her pen name).

Here’s a list of some of the topics we hit upon:

In the opening news, Lindsay argued why it’s a good idea to bundle the early books in a series

The gang discussed the fact that the SFWA is now allowing in small press and indie authors

Pre-orders on Amazon, yea or nay?

Why pre-orders on Smashwords, Apple, and Kobo are a good idea

How far out you can list pre-orders and what happens if you fail to get your finished manuscript up in time

Lots of formatting tips for dealing with the Smashwords meatgrinder

How KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited can increase visibility and be useful for new authors

Whether the perks of KDP Select are worth the exclusivity requirement or whether it’s better to go wide